There are several small water craft, generally for sports purposes, that are so laterally unstable that considerable skill is required to handle them. Probably the outstanding example is the sail board, which is extremely popular but which requires great skill to handle, and which can be used only be relatively young, strong and agile people.
The present invention is illustrated as applied to a sail board, but it is apparent from the principals of the invention that it may also be used with other laterally unstable small water craft to give them a lateral stability that makes them practical sports craft for many people who are not unable to use them safely, or at all.
Anybody who has watched a person try to maneuver a board sailer for the first time, or who has tried it himself, knows how difficult it is. It is not at all unusual for a novice to require an hour or more of steady effort before he albe to sail as much as 100 feet without capsizing.
Stabilizing devices for small water craft have, heretofore, generally consisted of outriggers provided with sponsons that interfere with normal use of the craft and that are entirely unsuitable for board sailers which travel at high speed and which, when handled by an expert, may sail clear of the water for many feet.
The present invention does not interfere in any way with all normal uses of a board sailer, and in fact may actually increase the speed at which they may be operated and the distances that they can "fly" out of the water.